“ … At a time when the availability of legal aid and conditional fee agreements have been restricted, some litigants may have little option but to represent themselves. Their lack of representation will often justify making allowances in making case management decisions and in conducting hearings. But it will not usually justify applying to litigants in person a lower standard of compliance with rules or orders of the court. The overriding objective requires the courts so far as practicable to enforce compliance with the rules:CPR r 1.1 (1)(f). The rules do not in any relevant respect distinguish between represented and unrepresented parties. In applications underCPR 3.9 for relief from sanctions, it is now well established that the fact that the applicant was unrepresented at the relevant time is not in itself a reason not to enforce rules of court against him: R (Hysaj) v Secretary of State for the Home Department[2015] 1 WLR 2472 , para 44(Moore-Bick LJ); Nata Lee Ltd v Abid[2015] 2P & CR 3 . At best, it may affect the issue “at the margin”, as Briggs LJ observed (para 53) in the latter case, which I take to mean that it may increase the weight to be given to some other, more directly relevant factor. It is fair to say that in applications for relief from sanctions, this is mainly because of what I have called the disciplinary factor, which is less significant in the case of applications to validate defective service of a claim form. There are, however, good reasons for applying the same policy to applications underCPR r 6.15 (2) simply as a matter of basic fairness. The rules provide a framework within which to balance the interest of both sides. That balance is inevitably disturbed if an unrepresented litigant is entitled to greater indulgence in complying with them than his represented opponent. Any advantage enjoyed by a litigant in person imposes a corresponding disadvantage on the other side, which may be significant if it affects the latter’s legal rights, under the Limitation Acts for example. Unless the rules and practice directions are particularly inaccessible or obscure, it is reasonable to expect a litigant in person to familiarise himself with the rules which apply to any step which he is about to take.”
“1 - The: Claimant claims damages for libel in respect of news stories published and compiled by the defendants falsely nominating the claimant to be an organizer of a “violent protest demonstration" which vandalised the Pakistani High Commission in London. These stories were published on the: websites of https://www.thenews.com.pk, https://www.geotv and https://www.jang.com.pk on May 25, 2021, May 24 2021 and May 25 202 respectively. The news stories have also been published on the FRONT PAGES of the print editions of daily JANG LONDON, Jang Karachi, Jang Lahore, Jang Rawalpindi and Jung Multan. 2 - The Claimant expects apology from the Defendants for falsely nominating the Claimant to he one at the organisers of the protest demonstration 3 - Any other relief, remedies or Orders as the Court may deem just and convenient”
“10. Action against a person who was not the author, editor etc (1) A court does not have jurisdiction to hear and determine an action for defamation brought against a person who was not the author, editor or publisher of the statement complained of unless the court is satisfied that it is not reasonably practicable for an action to be brought against the author, editor or publisher. (2) In this section “author”, “editor” and “publisher” have the same meaning as insection 1 of the Defamation Act 1996 .”
“There is no obvious reason why s 10 should not be construed as a provision about personal jurisdiction, to be applied when an application is made for permission to serve outside the jurisdiction, or on an application to set aside service under Part 11. The fact that the jurisdiction under s 10 turns on the role an individual played in respect of a publication is perhaps more consistent with the view that the section is a provision about personal jurisdiction.”
“The Claimant is the Group Chief Executive and Editor in Chief of the Jang group of companies, which is the largest media group in Pakistan and which operates also in the United Kingdom through two UK companies Jang Publications Ltd and GEO TV Ltd (of which the Claimant is chairman). His family connection with this jurisdiction goes back to 1971, when his father Mir Khalil-ur-Rahman launched the first South Asian newspaper here, the Daily Jang, which remains the highest circulation Urdu newspaper in the UK today. Its website attracts some five million visitors each month from within the UK.”
“The judgment gives an overview of Mr Shakil Ur-Rahman’s connections to the UK and explains how he is the Group Chief Executive and Editor in Chief of the Jang group of companies. I cannot explain why Mr Justice Sir David Eady used the word “Its” but it appears that this is a reference to the www.jang.com.pk website on which D2 promotes the ‘Daily Jang London’ e-paper. There can be no other explanation as D2 has never owned, controlled or been able to edit or do anything on this or any other website. It simply has never had a website of its own or access to anyone else’s site.”
“… D4 ignored my all attempts to establish communication. Residence address is personal information which are difficult to obtain and illegal to be supplied without the permission of that person”
“(1) Where payment of a court fee is required to accompany the filing of a document, the date and time of filing on Electronic Working will be deemed to be the date and time at which payment of the Court fee is made using Electronic Working. (2) The date and time of payment will also be the date and time of issue for all claim forms and other originating processes submitted using Electronic Working.”
“(2) The court will keep a record of when payment was made or deemed to have been made.”
“If identified before issue, the court may simply refuse to issue the proceedings until the proper fee is paid. If proceedings are issued, the court could direct the payment of the missing fee either at the time of issue or later. Non-compliance with that order could result in the proceedings being stayed or in a succession of peremptory orders of increasing severity that could, at least in theory, lead to a claim being struck out for non-compliance. The existence and potency of these procedural responses demonstrates that the nuclear option (i e holding that all proceedings that are issued without the correct fee being paid are ineffective to stop time running) is unnecessary as well as being unwarranted.”
“[5] The discretion to disapply is a wide one, and is largely unfettered: see Steedman v BBC[2001] EWCA Civ 1534 ; [2002] EMLR 17 at 15. However it is clear that special considerations apply to libel actions which are relevant to the exercise of this discretion. In particular, the purpose of a libel action is vindication of a claimant's reputation. A claimant who wishes to achieve this end by swift remedial action will want his action to be heard as soon as possible. Such claims ought therefore to be pursued with vigour, especially in view of the ephemeral nature of most media publications. These considerations have led to the uniquely short limitation period of one year which applies to such claims and explain why the disapplication of the limitation period in libel actions is often described as exceptional. … [8] The onus is on the claimant to make out a case for disapplication: per Hale LJ in Steedman at para 33. Unexplained or inadequately explained delay deprives the court of the material it needs to determine the reasons for the delay and to arrive at a conclusion that is fair to both sides in the litigation. A claimant who does not “get on with it” and provides vague and unsatisfactory evidence to explain his or her delay, or “place[s] as little information before the court when inviting a section 32A discretion to be exercised in their favour … should not be surprised if the court is unwilling to find that it is equitable to grant them their request.”